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Friday, February 11, 2011

Movie Review -- Pokemon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life

FINALLY! For reasons I'm too lazy to look up on Google, this DVD was supposed to come out a year ago, but didn't. When this thing finally was available for pre-order on Amazon.ca back at Christmastime, I put in my order. And now, it's here it's here it's here! So, let's get to it!

Backstory: Dude, I don't know what I was so obsessed with getting this. I don't even watch the cartoon that much anymore. It comes on at 2PM on Saturday afternoon now, and I'm usually doing something better. Maybe it's the fact that, with the two Pokemon movies before this one, they all form a trilogy, and I just had to know how the whole thing ended. All I know is, with the arrival of this from Amazon.ca, my collection of every Pokemon movie is complete. Was it worth the extra year wait, though?

Plot: Centuries ago, the town of Machina was on the verge of destruction from a meteor. But, the pokemon Arceus appeared and destroyed the meteor. Stunned at the wasteland that Machina had become, Arceus used a potion of his life force to forge the Jewel of Life, and with it, Damos, the ruler of Machina, was able to revitalilze the land. But, when the time came for Damos to return the Jewel of Life to Arceus, Damos betrayed Arceus and attacked so as to keep the Jewel. Wounded, Arceus retreated to a parallel dimension to heal, and swore one day he would have his vengeance on humanity. In the present day, Ash, Pikachu and company wander into Machina, and meet Sheena, the guardian of Machina's ruins and a descendant of Damos. Turns out the temporal distortions of the past two films signaled the impending return of Arceus, and Sheena seeks to return the Jewel of Life to make up for her ancestor's crime. But when the Jewel Sheena tries to return turns out to be a fake, Ash, Pikachu, Sheena, and all the rest are thrown back in time to prevent Damos from betraying Arceus in the first place. Can history be re-written? Can they save Machina and the world?

What I Liked: As with the past batch of Pokemon films, this one's location was inspired by a real life location...this time around, Athens and the outlying Greek countryside. And it does look gorgeous. There's good music, and intriguing premise and plot. And it almost turns into a Godzilla movie with all the giant pokemon doing battle with each other.

What I Didn't Like: As Pokemon films go, it's awfully talky, and the time travel narrative doesn't help much. We're told a story of what happened in the past, and then, later in the film, we go back in time and act it out. It gets rather repetitive.

Final Verdict: It doesn't stray from the Pokemon formula. It's exactly what you expect, and offers no surprises. And with this, I think I may finally be done with the franchise.